Dream Team really did have wasted potential when it came to the villains.

Q

Qayin

Koopa Troopa
Reviewing the game again, while I really dig the attempt to portray Bowser's army as genuinely threatening the game fell short at showing this menace across the land. Doubly so when counting Antasma and how he doesn't really do much on the island for how much of a terror he supposedly is, especially after the dream castle shows itself. The game could have tried to make more bosses and their contexts more connected to the alliance so that they can present themselves as the threat to the world the game tries to say they are.

The game also dropped the ball at showing Bowser and Antasma having a partnership. Something as small as having Antasma terrorizing some tourists until Bowser comes over, sees it, and compliments his work would be helpful. As it stands now, the betrayal doesn't have the impact it should have.
 
Normally stuff like this would go in the unpopular opinions thread, but I think it’s more unpopular that I think Dream Team is the best Mario & Luigi. It’s better than Superstar Saga and Paper Jam at the very least, as those are the only other ones I’ve played.
 
In a 40 hour game, they spend about half of it sitting in a castle doing nothing.
 
They wasted no time forcing their minions to go through tutorials too! D:
 
Mcmadness said:
In a 40 hour game, they spend about half of it sitting in a castle doing nothing.
Click to expand...
It's a pretty classic villain strat
 
Bloc Québécois said:
Mcmadness said:
In a 40 hour game, they spend about half of it sitting in a castle doing nothing.
Click to expand...
It's a pretty classic villain strat
Click to expand...

Aye, I just wish we saw more of them either leading up to that point or while we were traveling like in PM.
 
I honestly think if they were going to go for Bowser betraying a new villain, it at least should've not come at the time period it did. Antasma was the only non-Bowser antagonist in any Mario RPG between BIS and SSS+BM. So for those of us who enjoy new villains, having Bowser usurp the new villain in a period where new villains barely happen at all, wasn't the right move. He could've been the sole antagonist, in which case it would've been his best portrayal as an antagonist since Paper Mario 64 and wouldn't carry the "faked out with a new villain" disappointment.

But Antasma in general, even past the betrayal, wasn't used to his full potential. He had one awesome boss fight but other than that is only spoken of by NPCs as an evil from the past, but barely does anything in the present. Considering how much he was hyped up from the first glimpse we had of him (which looked like some badass fusion of Cackletta and the Dark Star), he was handled pretty poorly, which is why I think he shouldn't have just... swelled up and exploded at the end. It was like once Bowser came into the picture they didn't care anymore. However thanks to that exact same animation being used for the Koopalings and Kameks in Paper Jam, and for Fawful in the Superstar Saga remake, I feel like if Antasma is already put down in their books as dead that's not very fair. I think he has potential for another appearance.
 
For the M&L series it was the perfect time for it to happen. What Paper Mario does is irrelevant.

And Antasma really doesn't have all that much potential. His design was uninspired, just a lame rehash of Cackletta but purple, and his personality wasn't very entertaining.

Him not being the final boss doesn't change the fact that he is incredibly boring as a badguy and I have no desire to see him come back.
 
I think for Antasma, his accent is the extent of his personality.
 
That was a problem with a lot of characters in DT. They had nothing of note beyond their speech gimmick.
 
Mcmadness said:
That was a problem with a lot of characters in DT. They had nothing of note beyond their speech gimmick.
Click to expand...

The beef brothers were the worst. Felt like the writers (or is it the localizers?) were trying way too hard to make the next Fawful
 
Their subplot also lasted too long. Which goes in line with I said about the game having too many bosses/sections that have really nothing to do with Antasma/Bowser.